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OTTAWA — The planned shipment of 846,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to Canada this week will come up short.
The government was expecting the shipment this week as part of the company’s commitment to deliver two million doses of the vaccine in the first quarter. Earlier this week, the company delivered part of that shipment, 255,600 doses, and was expected to complete the shipment on Saturday, but that will now be delayed into next week.
In a statement, Procurement Minister Anita Anand confirmed Moderna had broke the bad news on Thursday afternoon.
“I spoke with executives from Moderna who informed us that, due to a backlog in its quality assurance process, the 590,400 doses that were due to arrive in Canada this weekend have been delayed by a few days,” she said.
Anand said the vaccines have been manufactured, but the quality assurance work has to be completed before the shipment is sent.